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After legal disputes, the Brazilian Navy ended up sinking the decommissioned aircraft carrier SÃO PAULO in the Atlantic Ocean
The wreck of the former flagship of the Brazilian Navy had been floating in tow off the northeastern coast of Brazil since October 2022 after Turkey denied the vessel’s entry into the country under pressure from environmental groups and unions.
Background
The French Navy commissioned the Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier in the 1960s as “FOCH”. In 2000, Brazil purchased the ship, which was incorporated into the Brazilian Navy fleet and renamed “SÃO PAULO”.
According to the Brazilian Navy, in the 1990s, the French Navy carried out an extensive overhaul of the ship, including the removal of about 55 metric tons of asbestos from its structure and fittings.
In 2018, after a series of incidents which heavily affected the aircraft carrier’s serviceability, it was decommissioned. In 2021, the Brazilian Navy eventually sold the SAO PAULO in a public auction to a Turkish shipyard for responsible recycling. Under the sale terms, the buyer must adhere to the Basel Convention and present an inventory of hazardous materials audited by lab tests and approved by a recognised classification society.
As Brazil does not have a ship recycling industry, most vessels that reach the end of their lives are broken up in Asia.
The export of the SAO PAULO to Turkey was possibly the first attempt at a safe and sound ship recycling, strictly adhering to the terms of the Basel Convention and the national regulation on the subject, Interministerial Normative Instruction No. 2 of 2016.
The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and its Turkish counterparts authorised the transfer of the decommissioned vessel after compliance with regulatory requirements, including the preparation of an independent Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) and a Ship Recycling Plan (SRP). Nevertheless, in response to pressure from environmentalists, who claimed that the amount of asbestos left on the ship’s structure had been underreported, The Turkish authorities ended up revoking the import license.
Disputes
The wreck of the SAO PAULO was towed out of Brazil in early August, bound for a ship recycling facility in Izmir, Turkey. Upon reaching the Strait of Gibraltar later that month, the Turk called off the clearance, alleging that the ship posed an environmental hazard. The retired carrier then had to be towed back to Brazil, where it remained drifting in circles off the coast of Pernambuco, awaiting approval from the authorities to dock. Eventually, permission never came amid concerns from IBAMA and environmental organisations.
Buyer’s interests commenced proceedings to obtain a court order for the vessel to dock for repairs and subsequent towing out of Brazil without success.
Takeover by the Navy
Last January, the Navy reported that the buyers of the SAO PAULO failed to comply with the conditions imposed for the wreck to remain safely afloat 24 miles from the coast, outside the territorial sea.
After inspection, the maritime authority found the former carrier in deteriorating conditions of buoyancy and stability. It informed that SAO PAULO did not have P&I cover in place for pollution and wreck removal liabilities, there was no valid contract with local shipyards for much-needed emergency repairs, and the buyers stopped paying the owners of the Dutch towing ship APL GUARD. Accordingly, the Navy took administrative control over the wreck based on Law 7,542 of 1986.
Among other matters, Law 7,542/1986 regulates the removal and demolition of sunken, submerged, stranded and lost things or assets in domestic waters arising from accidents, dumping or sea fortune. This federal statute gives the Navy discretionary powers to control and oversee salvage and assistance to ships and wrecks and determine their removal or demolition when they constitute a threat to the environment and navigation safety.
Scuttling
In a joint press release on 1 February 2023, Brazil’s Ministry of Defence, the Attorney’s General Office and the Brazilian Navy announced the decision for the latter to move the SAO PAULO further out and sink it within Brazil’s exclusive economic zone. The Navy’s offshore supply ship PURUS was sent out to relieve the APL GUARD on the northeastern coast with the assistance of the Navy frigate UNIÃO.
Despite the objections of IBAMA and environmentalists who feared possible harmful consequences, the SAO PAULO was sunk on the afternoon of 3 February 2023, about 200 miles off the northeast coast at a depth of five kilometres. No official footage has been released.
While the Navy did not disclose the coordinates where the wreck lies, it selected the location because it is outside environmental protection areas and free of undersea communication cables and wind farms, paying attention to mitigating impacts on public health, fishing activities and ecosystems.
The former Brazilian Navy flagship went down just a few hours after the Federal Regional Court of the Fifth Region (TRF-5) denied an appeal filed by federal public prosecutors to suspend the scuttling.
Domestic ship recycling landscape
Although Brazil is a state party to the Basel Convention and the Stockholm Convention, it has not signed the Hong Kong Convention; therefore, ship dismantling and recycling remain largely unregulated.
Bill 1,584/2021, which has recently moved forward in its legislative course in the National Congress, seeks to create integrated policies and guidelines to develop a safe and environmentally sound ship recycling industry in Brazil to meet the growing demand. Read more.
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